


Playing With (Demon) Fire

by WatchTheAntagonist



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Demons, Demon Deals, Demon Summoning, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 03:29:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14275965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WatchTheAntagonist/pseuds/WatchTheAntagonist
Summary: Foggy Nelson never thought he would be summoning a demon. But he had come to realize that the law wasn't doing enough to protect the people in his city. Hell's Kitchen needs a guardian, and Foggy is going to find it one.





	Playing With (Demon) Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fic in this fandom. I hope the characterization isn't too off, though some is obviously different because of the alternate universe. Anyways, I had fun with this and might consider doing something else with this universe in the future, but for now it's just a one-shot. I'd appreciate any comments or kudos, and I hope you enjoy!

                Foggy Nelson had never thought that he would ever have much need for demonic assistance in his life. Sure, he had never been particularly religious, but there was still a feeling of wrongness that accompanied any attempt to dabble in the occult. It was enough to send a shudder down his spine, and make his hands tremor as he used an old paint brush he had found in his parent’s garage to paint a dark red pentagram on his bedroom floor. He tried to steady his hands. From everything that he had read in the old, dusty grimoire he had picked up at the second-hand bookstore, it was important to get all the details right when attempting this sort of thing. He had already sketched the plan for the pentagram in pencil on his floor, so now all he had left to do was paint in between the lines and not think too much about the sticky red blood. Well, if this whole endeavor taught him anything, it was that he never would have cut it as a butcher.

                “Alright. That part’s done,” Foggy said, speaking softly to himself. He brushed his hands off on his pant legs as he stood up, and tried to ignore the streaks of blood the gesture left. It shouldn’t be this hard, not at this point. He had already made up his mind to do this, but he still couldn’t seem to stop himself from hesitating. He scrunched his eyes closed and ran his hands through his hair. This was a dumb idea. This was a really, really dumb idea. It might even top turning down the job at a proper law firm. He had had plans. Sure, he wasn’t entirely sure that the whole cutthroat, devious corporate lawyer thing wouldn’t have chewed at his conscious, but he was going to work up from that. Make stuff better. It would have taken a long time, but he might have been able to do it. And he would have actually made some money along the way, which he wouldn’t have been totally opposed to.

                If he was going to listen to any logic at all, he wouldn’t be doing this. He would be calling the police. Again. Or Child Protective Services. Again. But, none of that had worked. And he couldn’t just pretend he hadn’t heard. So, he had, for the first time in his life, been thankful that his family was descended from witches and warlocks and dug up one of the old dusty books in the attic and thought that it might be worth a try. Anything would be worth a try at this point.

                “Well, fuck it. Here goes nothing,” Foggy mumbled, noting that that probably wasn’t the most suitable mindset for summoning a demon, but not really caring much. One Latin incantation later, and he was sure that the whole thing was a bust. Which meant that he was back to thinking of non-insane ways of dealing with his problems. He had almost made it to the door when he smelled the sulfur. Foggy whirled around and saw the pillar of billowing smoke that was covering the entire room

                “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Foggy gasped as he saw a shadow of a figure appear in the smoke. “Shall we get to business?”

                The smoke cleared, revealing the demon. Foggy stared at it. Not exactly what he had been expecting. For one, he was totally jealous of his suit, and feeling self-conscious about his own sweatpants and t-shirt. For another, he had been expecting horns and wings, maybe a tail. The demon just looked like a guy. A really good-looking guy, but just a guy. The only thing convincing Foggy that he wasn’t just a neighbor or something who had walked in was the glow of his pure-red eyes.

                “I’m Foggy. It’s nice to meet you as well,” Foggy said, because he wasn’t an animal.

                “Fake name. Good, you’re smart. I hate having to work with the dumb ones,” the demon said with an approving nod. Foggy gulped and tried to pretend that had been intentional and not just him being used to his nickname. “You can call me Matt.”

                “Umm, okay,” Foggy said hesitantly. This conversation was not what he had expected. To be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure what he had expected, but it certainly wasn’t this.

                “What’s the matter? Expecting Destroyer of Worlds or Bloodsucker?” Matt said with a grin. Great, his demon had a sense of humor. “You should meet my mentor—he goes by Stick, believe it or not. So, why have you called me here?”

                “There’s this girl--” Foggy started. Matt raised an eyebrow at him. Foggy glared, but the demon either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “It’s not like that. She’s eight, I think. Her dad. . .he hurts her. I’ve tried calling the police, everything that you’re supposed to do, but nothing worked. So, I want you to save her.”

                “And you’re willing to sell your soul for that?” Matt said. His body language became tense, and Foggy was really hoping that he was angry about what was happening to the girl and not at Foggy.

                “Not just her. I want you to save all of them,” Foggy said. Matt’s red eyes widened.

                “I’m not _nearly_ powerful enough to stop every bad person in the world,” he said.

                “Hell’s Kitchen, then. I want you to protect the people of Hell’s Kitchen.” Matt frowned slightly, seeming to be thinking it over.

                “Why?” Matt said. “Humans aren’t generally that altruistic from my experience.”

                “She thought I was a superhero,” Foggy blurted out. “I told he I was a lawyer, and she didn’t know what that was so I said that it meant that I help people. So, she said I was like a superhero, and I said sure because she was so excited and then she told me about her dad.”

                “So, you’re hiring a demon to be a superhero?” Matt said, almost seeming excited about the idea.

                “Yeah. I suppose I am.”

                “Well, then let’s work out this contract,” Matt said. Foggy grinned. Now, this was his area of expertise.

                It took them nearly four hours to get all the details of their contract worked out. Considering a demon and a lawyer were making a bargain, they had probably made good time. They had been slightly hindered by Matt refusing to read from the notebook Foggy had brought and insisting that everything be read out loud, but Foggy figured it was probably some standard demonic practice and tried to be polite about it. As they finished, Foggy read their final contract aloud one last time.

                “Are you sure you want to do this?” Matt said, seeming slightly hesitant. “You do realize that this means that you’ll become a demon after your death.”

                “I think it’s worth it,” Foggy said honestly. Then he frowned. “Wait, does this mean that you used to be human? What did you sell your soul for? Oh, wait. Is that too personal? Never mind, you don’t have to tell me.”

                “It’s alright,” Matt said, in the way that people tend to do when it’s really not. Foggy was mentally kicking himself and figured that he’d just let the subject drop, but Matt continued after a long pause. “I wanted my dad to win a fight.”

                Foggy wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but from the look on Matt’s face he decided not to pry any further. Instead, the pause meant that Foggy had another moment to realize that he was possibly making the biggest mistake of his entire life and afterlife. He gulped.

                “Was it worth it?” Foggy couldn’t stop himself from asking. Matt gave him a slight smile that didn’t go anywhere near to reaching his eyes.

                “No,” Matt said without any hesitation. “You rethinking?”

                “Not at all,” Foggy said after a pause. “You ready to become a superhero?”

“The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, huh? I suppose I can work with that.” Matt reached out his hand and they shook, sealing the bargain.


End file.
